Singapore pays its athletes $744,000 for a gold, $372,000 for. free lifetime flights on AirAsia Philippines. Balazs Erdelyi of Hungary during a water polo match against South Africa on July 29. How Olympians make money, explained. For athletes who win multiple Olympic gold medals, they entitled S$1 million only for the first individual gold medal won at the Games.[23]. Narrator: Coaches can cost more than $100 an hour. Shes also receiving free lifetime flights on AirAsia Philippines, a house courtesy of President Rodrigo Duterteplus at least three more homes that companies and benefactors have promised her. Russia Russia, this year's Winter Olympics host country, treats their athletes well. Additionally, they stay in the Olympic village for around a month. I started driving for DoorDash. Russia Is the Only Winner in the Kamila Valieva Mess, Its Time for USA Gymnastics to Take the Fall Its Been Avoiding, The 24 Craziest Stats From the Tokyo Olympics. Narrator: Athletes can also make money through sponsorships. Narrator: In every sport, the USOPC awards a $37,500 medal bonus for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. US Olympians . Narrator: Things have shifted a bit to help athletes. The Philippines' Hidilyn Diaz after winning the women's 55-kilogram weightlifting competition on July 26. So, how much money do Olympians make? But every athlete's contract is different. While the country has never claimed a medal on snow, the Cyprus Sports Organization will pay for a finish anywhere in the top 16: roughly $168,000 for a gold medal, $140,000 for silver and $123,000 for bronze, all the way down to $11,000 for 16th place. There are a few different types of sponsorships Olympic athletes can sign with. Moinca Aksamit: If you're not going to be able to afford it, and if you're not doing well, there's like six other people waiting in line just to have the opportunity. The state government of Manipur has pledged to give Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu 10 million Indian rupees ($134,000) for her silver-medal performance. Only one of the delegations six athletes in Tokyo still has a shot at that prize this year: 400-meter runner Mohammad Jahir Rayhan, who will be lucky to advance out of the preliminaries. And, that amount doesn't change whether an athlete is competing in an individual or team event, unlike in other countries. 958 in the worldquite a drop-off for someone who ranked as high as 26th during his career. The prize money is taxable and awardees are required to return a portion of it to their national sports associations for future training and development. 100,000, 70,000, and 45,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. But those are mostly theoretical exercises: Neither delegation has ever won a Winter Olympic medal. In fact, a recent survey conducted by the non-profit Australian Sports Foundation discovered just under half of the 521 athletes questioned were " teetering on the brink of retirement ", taking home less than $23,000 a year. In 2012, CNBC cited Italy as the country with the world's highest payout, offering its athletes $182,400 for each gold medal. The host country of these Games, Japan, pays similarly, with medal bonuses of roughly $45,000 for gold, $18,000 for silver and $9,000 for bronzeexcept in baseball, with members of the Japanese team reportedly in line for an extra $45,000 if they can win the tournament. The first is a corporate sponsorship, which is when a company pays the athlete to wear its brand on their clothing. Monica: That's my only question over the next three years of, do I continue another three years of being broke? Naomi Osaka of Team Japan serves during her Women's Singles Third Round match against Marketa Vondrousova of Team Czech Republic on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Tennis Park on July 27, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. In comparison, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee shells out around 27,000 for a gold medal, 16k for silver and 10k for bronze. That depends on the country. Spending around a month in the Olympic village can be costly for Olympic athletes. The first, stipends. It's free! More often, these sponsorships are performance-based, meaning an athlete has to win a certain number of competitions. Must be nice to never have to load up your transit card again, although he could afford to after collecting his gold medal ransom. Phoenix Petroleum is also honoring her medal with free fuel for life. As a reward for her historic achievement, Diaz will reportedly receive at least 33 million Philippine pesos (around $600,000) from the Philippine Sports Commission as well as the country's top businessmen. Competitors don't really receive a fixed salary. A U.S. Olympic athlete, for example, receives $37,500 US for each gold medal in Tokyo, plus $22,500 for silver. Lauryn: And you also are responsible for your coach, making sure that they are paid and compensated accordingly. The nation also dropped rewards for team officials. Its free! Son only had to attend basic training, which was doable during the English Premier Leagues offseasonrather than fulfill the full-length of the typical 21-month military requirement, which would have put him in breach of his contract with his club, Tottenham Hotspur. By Caroline Picard Aug 16, 2016 Save Article New! This year, athletes will receive up to 142,288 (roughly $159,000) per gold in individual sports, and teams will receive up to 426,862 ($477,000) to divvy up. Additionally, Olympians can receive an athletic grant or part-time job through the Olympic Job Opportunities Program. . With of all this time designated to the Olympics, how do Olympic athletes make money? How much are Olympic athletes paid for winning gold medals? At the 2018 games, the USOPC upped the medal bonuses by 50%. The IOC has recently eased Rule 40, which prohibited athletes from making money off their image rights before, during, and after the Olympics. The IOC has recently eased Rule 40, which prohibited athletes from making money off their image rights before, during, and after the Olympics. China: $31,400. Aaron: In a matter of 22 hours, I want to say it was, I had all the money that I needed, and it was such a wild moment for me. But now, athletes' sponsors can run certain ads during the Rule 40 period. But that's nothing when it comes to other countries who. Beyond that, Olympians rely on other revenue streams for their sporting endeavors, including efforts to land lucrative endorsement deals. The highest-paid athletes in the United States earn over $100 million annually. Not every country offers a prize for a podium performance. Olympic athletes do not get paid by just attending the Olympic Games. But we do know in 2012, half of the US track and field Olympic team made $15,000 or less a year from the sport, including stipends, prize money, and sponsorships. Estonia doesnt officially hand out a six-figure paycheck but deserves recognition as an honorary No. This is on top of the grants and benefits like health . Narrator: They also have a long list of expenses to train for their sport. Not how to swingI forgot how to play golf. Soccer star Son Heung-min got an exemption, too, after the South Korean national soccer team won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games. Plus, how the winnings stack up for individual and team event athletes. Here's Just How Much Money Olympic Athletes Make, What Is Simone Biles' Net Worth? Russia . Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Thats no small perk in Denmark, which has one of the worlds highest tax rates but awards roughly $15,000 tax free for individual gold medals. They've taught, modeled and engineered their way to Rio. He also fought Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero in 2013, earning at least $32M (guaranteed) for that fight, excluding pay-per-view fees. Like most of the 11,000 athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics, Cheung Ka-long was facing long odds. The data showed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards its athletes $37,500 for every gold medal won, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze . 11 Best Parenting Books for New Moms and Dads, 12 Best LED Face Masks to Zap Acne and Wrinkles. While medal bonuses are the domain of national Olympic committees in many countriesalbeit sometimes with government backingother nations cut out the middleman and disburse the bonuses directly through their sports ministry or another government agency. Good old spon-con helps many athletes make it big. I never earned less than $250,000. Narrator: The International Olympic Committee doesn't award athletes cash prizes for medals. Supporting their champions For the recent Tokyo Olympics, overall funding across the sports totaled $481 million. Silver medalists get $22,400, while bronze medalists get $15,000, as per Forbes. Or those athletes in 1908 who competed in pistol dueling. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. So, the short answer is no, that Olympians don't normally pay for any expenses while competing at the Olympics. Everything was shut down. Today, the bronze medalist heads back to work as a risk analytics consultant for Deloitte. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. For Olympic athletes who may not be big names quite yet, they often receive funding from friends or family and local businesses. Per NBC, U.S. Olympic winners get $37,500 for winning gold, $22,500 for winning silver, and $15,000 for winning bronze. In Hungary, even bronze medalists receive nearly six figures in bonuses: 28.5 million forints, or roughly $89,000. Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant finds himself the subject of controversy yet again after an early morning social media post appeared to show Morant holding a gun inside a club. In Beijing, Meinhardt became the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer of all time. Most of that prize money is not taxable unless athletes report gross income that exceeds $1 million. I've been raised by a single mother since I'm 8 years old, so she definitely was funding everything when I was younger. Beijing individual gold medalists are entitled to 3,049 BSB, or about $143,000 at the current level. Although the medal bonuses help, it is not enough money to live off of, especially when the Olympic Games only occur every four years. This content is imported from poll. In places like Singapore, India and elsewhere, many of the national sporting initiatives are driven by governments that sometimes use higher monetary rewards to encourage a growing sporting culture, he told CNBC. $15,000 - Olympic silver medal. That can be anywhere from $510,000 per gold medal in Azerbaijan, $180,000 for an Italian gold medal champion, $135,000 for a Russian who takes home the gold or $19,500 for a gold medal winning German. Outside of the major sports, and those athletes that have high profiles, a lot of these athletes really struggle financially, Dr. Tim Baghurst, the head of the Interdisciplinary Center for Athletic Coaching at Florida State University, told WUSA9. China and Russia, two Olympic powerhouses, have reportedly paid medalists at past Games but were among the delegations that did not respond to requests for comment about their plans for Beijing. Olympic athletes do not get paid by just attending the Olympic Games. You might assume Olympic athletes live in the gym or make $$$ purely through major endorsement deals, but back on American soil many of them have cubicles and coworkers just like you (and if you work at Deloitte or Dick's Sporting Goods, you might even be one of them). So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in. The payments extend through the top eight places in each event. That's being rich. But Cheung, who had carried Hong Kongs flag during the opening ceremony, did his home territory proud, battling back from an early deficit against Garozzo to become Hong Kongs first Olympic champion in 25 years. Though again, most of these earnings do not come from medal prizes. All rights reserved. Like Indonesia, the Malaysian government gives medalists both a one-time payment and a monthly allowance: an upfront check of roughly $237,000 for gold, $71,000 for silver or $24,000 for bronze. Here are 12 countries and territories offering six-figure payouts for gold medalists in individual sports; the prizes are listed in U.S. dollars, converted from the local currency at the exchange rate as of January 28. Take the example of Sangmoon Baea two-time winner on the PGA Tourwho had to enlist in the military in 2015. Team USA skier Jaelin Kauf wins a silver medal for her Womens Mogul run at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. So if I can do that while I'm at one point working two jobs and DoorDash and everything like that, then I can't imagine what I can do if I didn't have to do that. Not every country offers financial compensation explicitly for medal winners. The United States gives athletes who win gold $37,500, while one European country awards six figures. However, if an athlete earns a medal, there is a medal bonus attached to it. 2K Sports and Nike sponsor Kevin Durant, who rakes in $40 million in sponsorship money every year. Most teams have corporate or private sponsors who pay for the Olympians' costs. She has also been offered two homes and free flights for life, according to reports. 10 Kyle Keith Shewfelt Shewfelt is a gymnast from Canada. "You want it to just be about the competition," he told CNBC, "but. Italy is an Olympic power, finishing seventh in total medal count at last years Tokyo Summer Games with 40 and 13th at the last Winter Games, in PyeongChang in 2018, with ten. These totals absolutely dwarf payments from Olympic committees like that of the United States. The Philippines clinched its first ever gold medal in Tokyo this week, making Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz the country's first Olympic gold medalist. Top performers collect prize money by winningnational and international tournaments. Medallists get the most out of this, with training worth between 37,000 and 57,000 being provided. If they somehow manage to claim a gold medal, they will be eligible for a one-time payment of about $238,000 from the government, plus a lifetime monthly allowance of roughly $1,200. A professional athlete's median salary is about $35,004 per year, with a range that goes up to more than $5 million dollars. All Olympic athletes competing for the United States earn a "medal bonus" according to Money Under 30, where they make money for each medal earned for their country. Athletes around the world salary ranges from $16,628 to $187,200. Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-Chun of Taiwan (or Chinese Taipei) on July 27. You may opt-out by. We get a stipend, and it is $300 a month. Narrator: And those bonuses are only up for grabs every four years when the Olympics come around again. Here's an insight into where their income comes from. However, as stated by US Olympic rower Megan Musnicki, her total stipend amounts to a meagre $2000 a month and for athletes competing in less mainstream sports such as fencing it can often drop to as low as $300 a month. New! Lauryn: I've seen athletes get very upset because they've performed really well, better than their competitor even, but the competitor has a lot more sponsorship opportunity. To watch & listen the FULL Podcast check out the links belowListen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5JQu91FRevsm4GSPr8JbYBListen on Apple Podcasts . (Ironically, most Olympians couldnt afford to own and maintain such cars. Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, for example, dont provide any extra pay for medals, and neither do smaller delegations like Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tonga or the U.S. Virgin Islands. NBA, I mean, we don't even have to cover that one. But, if they do well at the games the athletes can make some serious money. The countrys Central Asian neighbors also reportedly offer big cash prizes to medalists. And the San Miguel Corporationa large Filipino conglomerateannounced in mid-July that it would match the governments donation amount for every gold medalist. Following issues with corruption and cheating at the Olympics and Asian Games, the countrys General Administration of Sport promised to drop prizes to provincial governments for their local medalists wins, to curb the prevalence of both corruption and cheating. Not a bad haul! Winning the US Open when I was involved was a $25k payday, and if you are even in the semi-finals (top 32) you are definitely sponsored. [23] The money, however, is taxable and the medal winner is obligated to make a donation back into the sport they are representing. But each of the young athletes also will receive more than $205,000 for their success. As a nod to the rest of the team that made it to Tokyo, every Hong Kong athlete at the Games is also receiving free train rides for a year. But is it worth being broke again? Caroline is a writer and editor with almost a decade of experience. Estimated pay from 2016 Olympics: $115,000. . Few feats in sports earn athletes as much glory and respect as winning an Olympic medal. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Singapore's Yu Mengyu during the women's singles table tennis bronze medal match on July 29. The self-proclaimed "Shot Diva" just became the first American woman to win shot put at the Olympics, and set a new national record. "Its, 'Sponsor me because look at the money that I brought you last year in these events and this is what I plan to bring you next year.'". But that money doesn't come from the International Olympic Committee. Athletes can sign personal sponsorship deals to earn money apart from winning medals. But, due to the nations massive doping scandal, medalists wont get to hear their national anthem when they scale the podium. The Winter Olympics take place in Beijing, China this month with nearly 3,000 total athletes traveling to the games. Advertisement Is it all worth it? Ongoing uncertainty about letting Russian and Belarusian athletes try to qualify for the Paris Olympics affects "less than half" of the 32 sports at the games. As the Beijing Winter Games get underway, plenty of athletes will be competing for medals, honor, andas it turns outlots of money. Another source of funding is prize money. [22], The largest prize money under the MAP is for athletes who clinch an Olympic gold medal. A first-place finish in an Olympic individual event is worth roughly $380,000, and athletes can earn another half that amount for setting an Olympic record. Additional lifetime monthly salary of 5,000, 3,000, and 2,000 ringgit for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. The rewards actually trickle down below the podium spots, with Olympic athletes who finish seventh or eighth in their events still claiming 900,000 New Taiwan dollars ($32,000)almost as much as an American gold-medal winner. Malaysia diver Yan Yee Ng during the three-meter springboard preliminary round on July 30. The 19-year-old phenom passed up on sponsorship deals in order to swim for Stanford this fall, but she'll still accept hundreds of thousands in prize money for her six medals. In between Games, many Olympians partner with companies for endorsement deals. Some countries, mostly those who win very few medals, are much more generous with their prize money, according to moneyunder30.com. "Its not just, like, 'Hey, sponsor me because Im on TV,'" alpine skier Stacey Cook told CNBC. Lauryn: During the course of my career, I was really fortunate. What is known is the amount athletes will make if the win a medal in Tokyo. Other competitors resort to crowdfunding sites to gather the money and support they need to keep competing. For example, a gold winner for Team USA would clinch $37,500 for their efforts while their counterpart in Singapore would receive $737,000 nearly 20 times more. Hungary's national Olympic committee is one of many that awards bonuses for medals at the Games. The actor and model appeared in Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)" music video. How much money do Olympic athletes get paid? [1][2] Countries like Singapore and India, sports have heavy government involvement and athletes are given high monetary reward for winning an Olympic medal as a means to promote the growth of sporting culture in those countries. As the most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps has earned major endorsement deals with companies like Visa and Under Armour. Here's an insight into where their income comes from. In the quarters, Cheung made a stirring 5-point comeback against the Russian Olympic Committees Kirill Borodachev to advance to the medal rounds. Several have actually gone into debt competing in the Olympicslike former UFC star Ronda Rousey, who became homeless a few months after winning a judo bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games. Swimming, there's a lot of money, gymnastics, there's a lot of money. The money, however, is taxable and the medal winner is obligated to make a donation back into the sport they are representing. Athletes receive between $52,000 to $80,000. So it's a tough kind of balancing act that the NGBs are doing to figure out, how do we support the athletes that are up-and-coming, but then also how do we make sure that those who are doing awesome right now are well cared for? Most Team USA athletes are not represented by sports agents and some have no sponsors or endorsements at all, according to a Forbes report. Cheung Ka-long, a fencer, won gold in mens foil in Tokyo, earning 5 million Hong Kong dollars (about $642,000 at the current exchange rate) under the citys Henderson Land Commendation Scheme for Elite Athletes. A Division of NBCUniversal. All Rights Reserved. Canada is not the only country to reward their Olympic athletes for earning medals. The Russian Olympic Committees theme song when winning gold is Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. Narrator: But there are three main ways they can make money for being an athlete. A 2012 CNN Report states most American Olympic athletes make $15,000 or less. Ecuador set a $100,000 reward for any athlete who could win goldso congrats to champion road cyclist Ricard Carapz on his new stacks. So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in Olympic history, but the athletes also look forward to the cash prize that comes with it. It didnt take long for an athlete to come to collect: Two Kazakhstani competitors won bronze last Saturday, in weightlifting and judo, and another weightlifter followed with a bronze on Monday. Moments of Olympic glory aren't just paybacks for years of hard work. Malaysia also has hefty rewards for its Olympic winners. These logos will appear on the athletes' clothing during non-Olympic competitions, though. Beyond receiving monetary and non-monetary rewards from their countries for winning medals, Olympians rely on other revenue streams for their sporting endeavors. The fencer arrived at the Games ranked 19th in foil, and his path didnt get any easier from there: He had to face 2018 world champion Alessio Foconi in the Round of 16 before tangling with the defending Olympic champion, Daniele Garozzo, in the final. However, the Olympic Committee tends to pay for most of the expenses, such as food, accommodation and transportation. While all A-level athletes each month get a salary of about $2,800 and roughly $2,500 for training, gold medalists see their monthly wage rise to $4,500 for two years, with the same preparation funding. But a third-place finish would have guaranteed him a lot more money, he said. For most athletes, it's not enough. Here's a look at how much money medalists from 12 countries could take home, based on data compiled by CNBC from various national Olympic committees, sport associations as well as personal finance site Money Under 30. That's wealth. US Olympians used to have to pay as much as $8,900 in taxes on a gold medal bonus. I want to go back. US Olympians used to have to pay as much as $8,900 in taxes on a gold medal bonus. In Slovenia, Olympic gold medalists can collect through both routes: about $22,000 from the national Olympic committee and roughly $62,000 per gold medal from the government. If youre competing for Team China, the government is moving away from cash prizes. But now, athletes' sponsors can run certain ads during the Rule 40 period. Among the most generous nations is Turkey, which is willing to pay roughly $380,000 for a gold medal. And Russian winners? Russian athletes who won gold medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics have each been rewarded with a Mercedes GL-Class SUV worth $146,500.